One of boxing’s most powerful men, promoter Bob Arum has never been a fan of the sport of MMA and it appears that things have not changed.
The 88 year old promoter is still actively involved in professional boxing, with over 1400 boxing events under his belt. Arum has been active in the sport of boxing for over 5 decades. Throughout his career he has managed and promoted such legendary boxers as Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, Oscar de la Hoya, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao and others. To this day, he continues to run his boxer management company Top Rank, with such fighters under contract as Tyson Fury, Shakur Stevenson, Terence Crawford, Vasyl Lomachenko, Michael Conlan, Alex Saucedo, Gilberto Ramirez and others.
He is a known critic of the sport of MMA, having called the MMA fan base “skinheads” and MMA fighters “homosexuals” in the past. Arum recently appeared on Ariel Helawni’s MMA show and it seems that he is still not a fan of the sport:
“As far as I’m concerned, it’s trash,” Arum said. “I don’t like it. I don’t like to watch it. I’m not going to say that this is a sport that I love, because I don’t. It really does nothing for me.”
He also talked about his relationship with UFC president Dana White, saying that he has never even met him in person before:
“Let me tell you God’s honest truth,” Arum said about his relationship with White. “I have never, ever met Dana White. I have never, ever talked to Dana White. Again, all this idea of a feud is sort of nonsense that we throw out to the press when it benefits an event that we’re doing or something. But I don’t know who Dana White is as a person. I have never, ever met him or had any conversation. How do you like that?
Dana White and Bob Arum have been involved in a feud for a while. Arum has repeatedly criticized Dana White, calling him a “piece of s*it”, as well as the UFC and criticized other ventures like Zuffa boxing.
This article first appeared on CLOSEDGUARDMEDIA.com on 10th March, 2020.
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